A Lightning struck Heart
by AquaThunderKnight17
Summary: UPDATED; Sequel to "Heart of the Warrior". On the fifth year anniversary of the defeat of Sephiroth, Tifa throws a party to which Cloud shows up with a huge surprise! A little more drama than humor but it's all there…Please R&R. Rated T for language and mild innuendos.


**Please note: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or XIII or any of its characters…that would be Square-Enix.**

Fenrir's engine roared loudly as it raced through the desert, dust flying all around it and the two riders on its back. A swirling wind howled from the belly of the desert, signaling the threat of an impending storm that the motorcycle riders raced against. There was a loud screech and the scraping of rubber on dirt as the bike came to a sudden halt at the edge of a cliff; the riders sat overlooking the decrepit metropolis that was Midgar with the crumbling tower of the ShinRa Corp standing as a monument of what had been fought for all of those years ago. And off to the south-east was the replacement settlement of Edge and _their_ destination. The front rider chuckled; his counterpart turned to him, pulled down the bandanna shielding her face from the dust and asked gently "What?"

"It's just a lot to take in" he replied pulling his own bandanna "I've been gone for three years, it's a little overwhelming being back."

"I understand" she said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Welcome home Cloud."

"Thanks Light" replied Cloud, returning her comforting grip, in a stony voice "but Bodhum is home now. By the way, when we get there, will you use your real name?"

"You know I only tell that to people I trust more than anything," Light replied "So don't worry about that."

Cloud nodded as h replaced his bandanna "Well, let's get going. It sounds like that storm we were racing is about to catch up to us."

"Yeah," was all Light could reply before Fenrir roared back to life and the duo took off towards the city.

…

Tifa scrubbed furiously at the dishes from the day, doing her best to finish her work and pay attention to her guests. She had decided to reunite all of her friends by throwing a party for the anniversary of the events at the Northern Crater; Barret and Marlene had shown up an hour previously and Cait, Cid and Vincent twenty minutes later. Tifa paused as the realization crashed over her: it had been four years since the final battle against Sephiroth!

God, had time gone by; her business was booming, she was the current NFMMA (National Female Mixed Martial Arts) Champion and (unlike most of her competition) she still had all of her natural teeth. Now after so much time she would get to see all of her friends together again; not that she never saw them: Yuffie lived with her now and helped run _7__th__ Heaven_; Barret and Marlene would stop by every week, and Red XIII would visit every couple of months. Cait, Reeve, Cid and Vincent were often busy with the WRO and would stop by as often as they could manage; the only one that she did not see on a regular basis was Cloud. Almost as soon as she'd thought his name, Yuffie came into the room.

"Hey" she said cheerfully; Tifa smiled in response. Taking notice of the pile of dirty dishes waiting to be washed, the Wutai ninja asked "Do you need any help?"

"Yeah, would you mind putting the clean dishes away?"

"So, everyone's is enjoying the party," said Yuffie as she put a stack of plates into the cupboard.

"That's good" said Tifa vaguely. Yuffie stared at her for a moment and then grinned a broad, mischievous grin.

"You're thinking about Cloud again" she said in a childish tone,

"No I'm not!" Tifa retorted a little too quickly.

"Yes you are!" Yuffie prodded like a little sister,

"Alright," said Tifa, laughing at Yuffie's pestering, "I got an email from him, he said he'd be: 'coming with someone,'"

"That's all?" asked Yuffie incredulously "Don't worry, it could just be a friend from work and who knows, maybe he's gotten over, you know, _that event_".

_That event_, as Yuffie had dubbed it, had happened last year: Cloud had been acting strange, and then suddenly disappeared. After some time, she had done her typical thing and tried to call Cloud but, as usual, he didn't answer and it wasn't until two days later she had learned that Cloud had left Gaia and none of them had seen or spoken to him since then.

"I don't know Yuffie," said Tifa resuming her scrubbing "It's been a year since I've even spoken to him…"

"Oh come Tifa!" barked Yuffie supportively "Cloud has had a thing for you since you were kids, and besides I'm as sure that he's as over _that event_ as I am sure that his hair still defies gravity!"

Tifa smiled in appreciation of Yuffie's optimism; just then, there was a loud roar of laughter and Barret (supported by Cid) and Vincent came into the bar room.

"Yo ho, Tifa! Wassup Yuffie?" Barret's voice was loud and booming in an intoxicated manner "How 'bout a drink?"

"I think you've enough to drink," said Vincent as Barret was overcome by a fit of laughter.

"What kind of stuff do you serve here Tifa? He only had two shots," barked Cid propping Barret up in a barstool

"_You're_ the one who insisted on pulling out my good liquor," replied Tifa grinning. The whole room erupted into laughter, when suddenly the front door burst open and two people, dressed in dusty hooded cloaks, eyes-shrouded by dark goggles and bandanna's concealing the lower half of their faces stepped inside. Barret's drunken laughter immediately faded as everyone in the room turned to them, giving them mix looks of incredulousness and caution.

"I'm sorry" said Tifa, voice calm but vigilant, "This is a private party, the bar is closed."

"Well that's too bad" said the first cloaked person in a deep, calming voice "We drove a long way to get here." The two of them pulled off their hoods, goggles and bandannas, revealing a woman with long pink hair and pale aqua eyes and the spikey blond head of Cloud Strife.

"Hey Cloud!" Barret roared delightfully, draping an arm over Cloud's shoulders, "Damn! The last couple years been good to you! You ain't aged a day Spikey!"

"Yeah, it's good to see you too Barret, but listen I've got someone I want you to meet," said Cloud practically holding his nose from the stench of Barret's breath.

"Hey, uh, who's your friend, eh Cloud?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you" said Cloud patiently, sliding Barret's arm off of him. "Everyone!" said Cloud loudly "This is my wife, Lightning."

The loud tinkle of shattering glass, as the mug Tifa had been cleaning slipped from her hands, didn't divert the attention of a roomful of wide-eyed expressions and open-mouthed disbelief. As she ducked down to retrieve it, Barret and Cid were the first to regain use of their voices.

"W-wife? Cloud, yo married?"

"WHEN THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?"

"What day is today?" asked Cloud, mock thinking.

"Friday," said Lightning grinning at her husband's almost mean sense of humor

"Then, eight months next week" he replied with a grin.

"_Eight months_?!" thought Tifa, attempting to stand quickly but ended up smacking her head, painfully, on the underside of the counter. Tifa's silent reaction was quite mutual throughout the group,

"W-w-well why didn't you tell _any_ of us?" asked Yuffie; all had fallen silent for a moment, before Cloud finally replied:

"I needed time to sort things out for myself; things happened and, well, here we are."

The words were, painfully, startling to hear (Tifa desperately wanted to retort with _anything_ but as she made to stand she smacked her head on the underside of the counter again, and instead chose an excruciated swear word).

As they all stood in awkward silence, it was Lightning who broke the ice, simply, by clearing her throat; it awoke Cloud out of his stupor and continued:

"Anyway; Light this is Barret Wallace and his daughter Marlene" both of them took turns shaking her hand in an attempt at being welcome, Marlene actually being sincere. "That's Cid Highwind, Cait Sith and Vincent Valentine."; Lightning shook hands with Cid first (although he stared at her as though he'd never seen anyone like her before) and then with Vincent (though there was a lot less tension with Vincent as they exchanged the respectful greeting). It was with Cait, however, where the situation became strange for Lightning.

"I'm sorry," she said releasing the puppet's grip "I've never shaken hands with a cat before,"

"Ach, dinna worry lassie" replied Cait in his usual good nature "You'd not be the first to react that way;" Lightning smiled appreciatively.

"This one is Yuffie Kisaragi,"

Tifa, who had finally managed back onto a standing position, managed to distract herself by putting away some more dishes. Tifa assumed that they shook hands as well, which just left…Tifa swore in her mind.

"And the very busy one, is Tifa Lockhart" said Cloud at last. Biting her tongue, Tifa turned with an attempted smile on her lips and offered Lightning a hand. Her grip was strong and respectful, making the beast in Tifa's chest roar with dislike, and she glared dangerously at her; a look that Lightning was transitioning into as well.

"Well, now that we're all friends, how about something to drink?" said Yuffie, eyeing their hand shake which was quickly evolving into a competition to see who could break the others fingers.

"Yes, a drink" said Tifa releasing Lightning's hand, though their eyes still shot sparks; Tifa quickly grabbed eight wine glasses, whilst Yuffie ducked down and pulled an emerald bottle of champagne and quickly filled each glass half way.

"A toast!" said Yuffie, "To Cloud and Lightning, a very late wedding toast!"

"To Cloud and Lightning," six of them rumbled in unison. Cloud, Lightning, Yuffie, Tifa, and Vincent each appropriately sipped from their glasses, but Barret and Cid exchanged looks and drained the golden liquid in a single gulp. Despite this, the bubbly drink had definitely lifted the mood of the awkward room,

"So Lightning, how did you and Cloud meet?"

"Through work," replied Lightning sipping some wine ("_A friend from work_" hissed Tifa glaring knives at Yuffie, who quickly diverted her own look by refilling Barret and Cid's drinks). "I was a Sergeant for the Bodhum Guardian Corps and, because of his, _amazing_, record Cloud had just been assigned to be the base as our new Captain."

"Guardian Corps, Cloud?" asked Barret dubiously, "Bit of a step up from being a delivery boy, ain't it?"

"Yeah well, I missed having action in my life" Cloud replied sarcastically but grinning; Barret roared with laughter.

Lightning smiled "Well, at first he and I just didn't get along and things got worse when he asked me out;" in an act of sheer amazement, Cid actually gagged on a puff of his own cigarette smoke. Lightning eyed him as though he'd just uttered a very inappropriate curse word and then said, "But I turned him down."

Tifa gave a throaty _'humph'_ but Lightning continued, either not having heard it or was completely ignoring her.

"Anyway, after he saved my sister, I started to trust him but he was a bit of a handful until he opened up to me" said Lightning in a reminiscent tone (to which Tifa's eyes widened in shock: _Cloud opening up_?) "Several months later, he pops the question and here we are a whole year later;" there was another sudden tinkle as Tifa's wine glass erupted into shrapnel, her fist gripped tightly.

Suddenly Barret and Cid seized Cloud's shoulders and (almost literally) dragged him off of his chair.

"Would you ladies mind excusing us for a moment?" said Vincent. The three of them lead him out of the bar area and into the empty parlor: "Okay," said Vincent in a calm voice "Let's be calm and-TAKING THE INITIATIVE DURING DATING?" burst in Barret loudly "REALLY OPENING UP? CRACKIN' JOKES?!" there was no time for a pause before Cid shouted

"WHO ARE YOU? AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH CLOUD?"

Lightning chuckled "Cloud did warn me that his friends could get a little goofy." In order to keep herself from saying something she would regret, Tifa gave another loud '_humph_' and busied herself with the dishes again.

"So, er, Lightning…"

"Please call me Light."

"Okay, Light, do and Cloud have, er….you know…kids?"

Tifa paused in her scrubbing, seeing Lightning's soft smile in her peripheral vision.

"No we don't but, (_'humph'_ said Tifa, scrubbing harder, did there always have to be a _'but'_ with them?), we've given it some serious thought and we think we're ready to give it a shot." Yuffie made a congratulatory face but quickly turned to shock as a loud crunch resounded to their right; Tifa, with obvious irritation on her face, had managed to crush the frying pan that she was cleaning.

"Tifa is there something that you want to say to me?" asked Lightning impatiently eyeing the brunette's vexed look.

"Not at all" said Tifa through gritted teeth and began scrubbing a plate with unnecessary force "Why would you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know" said Lightning challengingly "Maybe it's that annoying _'humph'_ that you keep making, or the fact that you've broken three dishes since we arrived."

"Everything is fine Light, I promise" growled Tifa; there was a sudden _'crack'_ and the plate in her hands split into pieces. Feeling the blood burning in her ears, she rounded on the rose-haired woman

"Do you really want to know what's bothering me?" Tifa shrieked, slamming the plate on the counter, breaking it further, "It's how you got Cloud to open up when I couldn't! I've known him since we were children and he wouldn't open up to _me_! So I want to know what you did to my friend!"

Yuffie gawked open mouthed at her best friend but Lightning was under no such spell.

"How dare you!" thundered Lightning lividly. "Are you telling me that you think that I used some form of sorcery to bewitch Cloud's heart; or are you insinuating that I used physical seduction to win his love? Well I've got a news flash for you: it's been a year, Cloud has moved on and _you_ need to get over yourself!"

There was a clamor from the other room and the men, led by Cloud, came charging in, "We heard shouting…" upon exchanging looks from both Tifa and his wife, the inevitable question came "…What's going on?"

"Your ex is out of her mind!" declared Lightning; Tifa glared knives at Light but Yuffie, terror clear on her face, was holding her back, "She believes that the only reason you married me was because I seduced you."

Cloud stared disbelieving at Tifa "Is this true?"

Tifa still looked ready to breathe fire, but she did not answer him. The tension in the room was like electricity making the hairs on everyone's necks stand up as everyone exchanged looks of horror between the two women and then to Cloud, holding their breaths anxiously to see what happened next.

"Tifa, I didn't marry Lightning because she seduced me," said Cloud his voice calm but his eyebrows narrowed "I married Lightning because _I love her_ and she and I have a connection and an understanding that you and I just didn't have." Cloud turned to face everyone; they watched him apprehensively; "The reason that I brought Lightning here was because I owed it to her and to all of you to introduce her to the people I regard as my family, but none of you have any effort to make her feel welcome."

He was silent for a moment and then said, more to Lightning than to any of the others "Perhaps coming here wasn't such a good idea after all. Come on Light, we're going home."

All of them began spewing frantic apologizes (except for Tifa, who at this point didn't care if she saw either one of them ever again) and reasons that they should stay, however, all of them fell on deaf ears as Lightning and Cloud moved to replace their traveling gear. Then a loud whistle came from nowhere, silencing the loud adults instantly and all eyes fell upon Marlene.

"You guys can't leave," her voice was half a plea and half informative, "An emergency weather report just aired: that dust storm they were tracking turned out to be bigger than expected and they're telling everybody not go outside until it clears." Cloud turned and pulled open the blinds on the window: nothing was visible outside of the door where it was blocked by a thick wall of dust.

Lightning let out a soft swear "So what now Cloud?" her husband was silent in a very meditative way.

"Don't be ridiculous!" said Tifa impatiently; everyone jumped at hearing her voice again, "Nobody is going anywhere, not in a storm this size! You'll all stay here until it blows over."

Tifa's almost startling shift back into a civil tone did not go unheard; everyone altered their gazes back to Cloud and Lightning, who stared at each other as though they were communicating telepathically. Finally Cloud turned to Tifa and said calmly

"Yeah that sounds great."

"Thank you Tifa," said Lightning with equal civility, though her voice hinted a slight grudge.

The once palpably tense air had drastically relaxed, although it was not entirely gone; Yuffie whispered to Vincent (but tactlessly loud) "Vince, I'm scared!"

Vincent replied soothingly "Yuffie, you and I have been to Deepground and back," and patted her shoulder in a reassuring way but quickly followed with "But the feeling is quite mutual!"

Quickly grabbing one of the strongest bottles of wine in her personal stores, Tifa turned and excused herself, a bit more curtly than she would have liked, and then disappeared up the stairs.

**[Later That Evening]**

It was nine o'clock that evening and Tifa sat in her bedroom, alone with her thoughts and a half empty bottle of blood-red wine sitting on her night table. Though she had a mixture of emotions swirling in her heart, the dominate ones were frustration and slight humiliation: Frustration that Cloud had showed up with his wife and made the entire party awkward, and humiliation of how she had acted and how she had walked out of her own event and was hiding in the, now, dark room. She knew deep down that she owed the two of them an apology but she was still too mad at Cloud and deeply jealous of Lightning to make one work. A small gasp escaped her lips, was she, a warrior who had helped defeat Sephiroth, jealous of Lightning because she had married the man she'd loved for years? She'd always thought that being jealous over a man was far beneath her, then again, he was her best friend and first love.

"What was all of that about?" said Cloud's voice, echoing mysteriously into the room, causing Tifa to gasp in surprise. She looked around and found the source coming from the air vent right beside her table, the one that connected her room to the guest room currently being occupied by Cloud and Lightning. Tifa dropped to the floor, unable to resist the temptation to eavesdrop;

"It's quite obvious," replied Lightning grumpily "She still has feelings for you _and_ she's jealous!"

"Jealous of _what_?" said Cloud uncomprehendingly "Tifa is one of the least jealous people that I know!" (_'Humph!'_ thought Tifa, taking her wine bottle in hand and taking another swig).

"Oh Cloud!" Lightning breathed exasperatedly "You can be so naïve when it comes to women!" (Tifa wanted to utter an agreeing sound but found herself, still, too prideful to agree with Lightning).

"I wouldn't worry about it," said Cloud "Her stubbornness will burn itself out and whatever hostility she has will go with it."

Tifa crushed a handful of her pajama bottoms in her hand, eyebrows raised incredulously; "_I'm being stubborn_?" she thought outraged and took another swig of wine.

"I hope so," replied Lightning, her voice hard, but deeply ingrained in that hardness, was a deep hurt; Tifa put down the wine bottle, positively stupefied, that someone as strong as Lightning was affected by (even by her own standards) such a stupid and petty argument.

"I'm sorry if what she said hurt you," said Cloud softly; Lightning made a grunting sound that sounded as though she were fighting back, powerful, emotions; something that Cloud (as Tifa noted) often did himself. The two were silent for a moment until there was the soft creak of metal springs as they climbed into the bed; there was a gentle '_click'_ and the light allowed inside the duct went out.

"I love you," said Lightning; Tifa did not believe that she could have said it more seriously, though she was nearly knocked breathless when Cloud replied with equal sincerity

"I love you too."

Then the room became silent and Tifa sat on the floor next to the air vent, wine bottle in hand and feeling very numb, as her world suddenly got much lonelier than before.

**[The Next Morning]**

Tifa awoke on the floor, bleary eyed and a small headache thundering in her skull. If it weren't for that last factor, she merely would have assumed that yesterday's events were an incredibly screwed up dream. Managing to her feet, Tifa pulled on a fleece bathrobe and moved over to the window, pulling back the curtains: the outside world was still enveloped behind the monstrous wall of dust. Tifa groaned, as she was unsure as to how long she'd have to endure this prison-like hell; but something crossed her nose: something smoky and smoky smells this early in the morning could only mean one thing: Yuffie was cooking. Smiling, Tifa headed downstairs to help her young friend.

Emerging from the staircase Tifa was greeted by four men huddled in a booth each with a mug of coffee and Marlene sitting at the bar talking with Yuffie.

"Tifa, thank God!" was Yuffie's greeting as Tifa emerged from upstairs, "You disappeared so suddenly last night, I was worried about you!"

"Thanks" replied Tifa, "So what's for breakfast?"

Conjuring up a plate, Yuffie placed in front of her: eggs, blackened bacon and a mug of coffee; Tifa eyed the food with a smile but gratefully ate. The bacon was like ash in her mouth and the eggs were dry as a bone but the coffee was a welcome relief to her headache. After politely stomaching as much of Yuffie's cooking as possible, Tifa pushed the plate away and asked "So, where are Cloud and Light?"

"Still asleep I suppose"

"I hope yo ain't setting aside no breakfast for 'em" said Barret "That food was inedible!"

"Well I didn't see you contributing much!" snapped Yuffie.

Their fighting came to an abrupt halt as a sound came down from the only occupied room on the second floor upstairs; it was the faint but very distinct sound of the squeak of bed springs.

"_You've got to be kidding me_!" Tifa thought, blood pounding in her ears, as she and the others stared, wide eyed, at the ceiling (Barret quickly turned to Marlene, telling her to turn her iPod on maximum volume).

"Wow!" said Yuffie, her eyes shocked but she wore a mischievous grin, "Good for them." Tifa shot her a testy look and easily subdued Yuffie's elation.

"I don't know," said Cid with a contemplating look on his face "It sounds more like they're having a wrestling match!" Cid's theory was met by a roomful of disdainful looks. However, despite the rather stupid remark, it did sound rather violent up there, what with the loud thuds and occasional grunts of pain. Suddenly, there was a loud _'crack'_ as something upstairs broke.

"I knew it! They're-" there was a loud moan of pleasure (Barret instinctively slapped his hands over Marlene's ears, though she recoiled with the pressure of his hands and volume of her music). However, as loud as it had been, it was gone and over.

"Awkward!" Yuffie breathed in a hushed voice so Tifa wouldn't hear. The entire room was silent in a palpable awkwardness until Cloud and Light's heavy boots came clomping down the stairs.

"Morning" said Cloud genuinely casual, which was responded to by a room full of semi-casual greetings.

"B-breakfast?" asked Yuffie still grinning idiotically at them; the Strife's graciously took the plates of Yuffie's bad cooking and ate silently though they kept giving each other flirtatious grins (Tifa thought in annoyance about putting a shotgun down her throat).

The arduous breakfast passed slowly, but the attempt to avoid another awkward situation was made by the rest of the group (though Barret and Cid kept making tactless jokes about "morning activity"). Tifa did her best to keep her mouth shut, thinking it best not to speak in order to avoid another moment like yesterday, but in her opinion, it didn't help when Lightning offered to help her do the dishes. She accepted keeping her voice civil; taking several deep breaths and using several distracting thoughts, the dish washing went by quickly and without a word.

A loud roar of laughter came from the parlor, causing the three women to look in curiosity. The men had all congregated around a square table playing cards, Cid's cigarette smoke gave the room the allusion of an old west saloon.

"Men!" scoffed Yuffie and moved away muttering something about lazy, good-for-nothings, which attracted all of their attention with a hearty laugh.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt," said Light with a small smile, but as she turned Cid called:

"No, wait a minute Lightning!"

Lightning stopped and turned back to him; "We've been thinking about it and Cloud's right."

"Yeah, I mean you _are_ Cloud's wife and none of us made you feel welcome" said Barret warmly

Lightning smiled genuinely "Thank you."

"Come on," said Cid gesturing to the empty seat next to him "Take a load off, play a game of poker…smoke?" he asked, offering her a cigarette (to which Lightning politely declined but gladly took the empty chair).

"So what are we playing?" she asked,

"Name of the game is _Seven-card stud_," said Vincent dealing the cards.

"If she's playing I'm out," laughed Cloud putting down his hand.

"Why?" teased Barret, "She can't play, can she?"

"Watch it guys" said Cloud in mock-warning, "We play with a couple of friends from the security division, and our brother-in-law, and she kicks our asses every time."

"Come on, nobody is that good!" exclaimed Cid turning his focus to the game.

**[Twenty Minutes Later]**

The three men exited the parlor, each wearing a thunderstruck expression, "I can't believe it!" exclaimed Barret, "She won _twenty-four_ games, straight!"

"Never mind that!" snapped Cid "She took all of our cash!_ I_ lost close to five hundred Gil!"

"I warned you!" chimed Cloud bluntly.

"Did you really beat them _that_ bad?" asked Yuffie as Lightning rejoined their group.

"Well Vincent _was_ a challenge, but Barret can't bluff, and Cid doesn't know when to stop betting."

Suddenly, all three women found themselves laughing; Tifa was surprised with herself, she hadn't smiled since Cloud and Light had arrived.

"Well that's a refreshing change," said Lightning "I've only seen you scowl and sulk since we got here;" the spoken words were hard to both hear and accept. She'd been so mad, and (though she'd never admit it aloud) jealous that it was overwhelming to think that she had totally forgiven herself of her jealousy.

Her head swirling with confusion, Tifa got up from her barstool and dashed up the stairs (she could hear Lightning ask Yuffie "Was it something I said?"). Closing the door to her room, Tifa paced around, trying to sort out the emotions storming through her heart; how could she have gotten over what happened? All she knew was that she felt sick and embarrassed and she didn't think that she could face either Cloud or Light again. There came a knock on her door

"Tifa?" came Yuffie's voice,

"Stay out!" snapped Tifa though regretted it as soon as she'd said it

"Come on Tifa, talk to me!"

"No Yuffie, just leave me alone."

"Well if you won't talk to me, I'll get the person you have to talk to!" said Yuffie in attempt to be threatening, but Tifa didn't answer. Yuffie's thunderous footsteps going downstairs echoed loudly throughout the bar; Tifa sat down on the edge of her bed, "_She's going to bring Lightning_" she thought glumly.

Suddenly the sound of mass footsteps came stampeding up to the door along with a jumble of voices.

"Are you sure it's a good idea, letting them be alone together?" asked the anxious voice of Yuffie, to which Tifa was surprised to hear Lightning reply calmly and confidently:

"Yes."

"Lassie, how can ye be so calm?" asked Cait, his voice a mixture of shock and awe;

"Because I love my husband, and I trust him. If this is what he needs to do to help a friend move on with her life, then that's what's got to be done." T

here was a momentary pause and then came two light knocks on the door, two which she responded with a meek, "Come in," and the door opened and in stepped Cloud.

"Tifa, I think it's time we talked" said Cloud taking a seat; pent up emotions in Tifa's heart burst forth like the raging beast they were.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING SOONER?!" her voice went off like a bomb, "YOU DISAPPEAR AND AFTER ALL THIS TIME, YOU SHOW UP WITH A WIFE?! DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU HOW HURTFUL THAT MIGHT BE TO ANY OF _US_?!"

Cloud took the verbal beating without a word but was straight faced and looked as though he were choosing the right words for the situation. Quite surprisingly, he grinned softly.

"You're not as mad as I thought you were" he said simply.

"YOU WANT ME TO BE ANGRIER BECAUSE I'VE GOT MORE TO SAY TO YOU CLOUD STRIFE!" Tifa raged.

"Well you should," said Cloud; suddenly Tifa lost the urge to yell, and her anger was replaced by dumbfoundedness. Seeing her pause Cloud continued

"You're right, it wasn't fair of me to show up and spring this on you. But for whatever it's worth, I did send all of you invitations to the wedding,"

Tifa looked away and mumbled "That just adds insult to injury."

"Listen Tifa, I can understand you being mad at me, but do you understand that you've been acting unfairly towards Light? '_I only married her because she seduced me_?' what was that about?"

Tifa flushed "Alright, I'll admit that was out of line, but _you_ have to see where _I'm_ coming from. It took a dip in the Lifestream to get you to open up to me! I guess I was just jealous that you opened up to her so easily."

"Trust me, it wasn't as easy as you think," Cloud muttered; Tifa eyebrows contracted in confusion. Waving his hand and sighing patiently Cloud said "I stand by what I said yesterday: Light and I have a connection that just wasn't there between us, and I took vows to prove it."

Tifa sighed but words spilled out as well "I guess I was worried too;" this time Cloud's eyebrows contracted in confusion and as he made to respond, Tifa held up a hand (silencing Cloud and allowing herself to continue). "I thought that you were still mad about our fight, and that you only brought her to rub your new life in my face."

"Tifa when have I ever been a vengeful person?" asked Cloud (She opened her mouth to answer but Cloud held up a single finger and quickly followed up with "Sephiroth and Shinra don't count!"). Thinking hard and staring each other down, a giggle got caught in Tifa's through and a grin split across Cloud's face until the both of them were laughing.

Suddenly, the suffocating emotions of humiliation and anger vanished from her mind, and a wave of happiness and pride flooded her heart. Lightning truly had worked miracles with him; the Cloud that she knew would have given up on life at the drop of a hat, but this Cloud was a faithful husband and a much stronger man and much easier to get a laugh out of. All the time that she'd been angry or jealous, she'd been blind to the significant changes and the milestones he'd reached in his character and if she was the one who helped him get there… (Tifa suddenly felt like a total jackass). "You're right," she said looking Cloud straight in the face but then she stood up and made towards the door

"Where are you going?" asked Cloud watching her reach for the doorknob.

Gripping the knob, Tifa turned back to him with her signature smile, "I owe your wife an apology."

**[Time Skip…the next morning]**

Tifa awoke to silence; unsure about what it was that woke her, all she knew was that while her brain took its time to fully boot up, she had plenty of time to replay the events that transpired after her talk with Cloud. After apologizing to Light, they'd sat down and talked, exchanging personal information.

God was she a fascinating person! Lost her parents young and been on her own since she was fifteen, raised her sister by herself, Guardian Corp Sergeant by nineteen and (after hearing of her adventures to complete her l'Cie Focus) Tifa could only think of how truly compatible she and Cloud really were. Suddenly, a low clomping sound moved down the hall, causing Tifa to sit up and look at her clock; the sound of boots at seven thirty in the morning could only mean one thing.

Shooting up out of bed, Tifa pulled back the curtains only to be blinded by bright sunlight and not the thick wall of dust; looking down, she found the Fenrir (completely immaculate despite the surrounding sea of dust) still parked out front. Pulling on her bathrobe Tifa quickly evacuated the room and moved down the stairs.

She found everybody downstairs (save for Marlene), each holding a mug of the steaming black liquid.

"Morning" said Yuffie only to have the greeting briskly ignored as Tifa marched over to Lightning (who was clad in her travelling cloak) and said disbelievingly:

"You're leaving already?"

Lightning smiled sleepily "Yeah, Cloud is upstairs saying goodbye to Marlene."

As Tifa readied to ask why, the clomping of boots coming downstairs thudded throughout the room as Cloud (also clad in his traveling gear) appeared at the foot of the stairs.

"Morning," he said quietly,

"Why are you leaving so soon?" asked Tifa sharply

"Well, it's going to be a long-as-hell trip back to Pulse, and we wanted to get back before nightfall so we have to leave now" replied Cloud.

They all exited the bar, watching as the duo mounted the motorcycle and pulling on their bandanna's, goggles and hoods.

"Hey Light, hold up a second" said Tifa causing Lightning to turn

"What is it Tifa?"

"Take care of him, okay?" she requested gently; Lightning nodded respectfully. As Tifa turned to leave, Lightning shouted from behind

"Claire!"

Tifa turned back to her with the obvious confusion written on her face,

"My _real_ name," said Lightning with a smile on her face "It's Claire."

Suddenly realizing that she was gawking, Tifa quickly shut her open mouth, but couldn't help a wide, appreciative smile split on her face.

"HEY!" roared Barret as the Fenrir's roared to life, the engine spewing out dust, "DON'T LET IT BE ANOTHER EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE WE SEE YO SPIKEY-ASS AGAIN!"

"YEAH!" concurred Yuffie "DON'T BE STRANGERS NOW!" Their garments hid their facial expressions, but each of them gave a hearty thumbs-up and then with another mighty roar and a belch of speed the bike took off and the Strife's disappeared the rising cloud of dust.

**[Two months later]**

Business was slow that day, only three of their typical customers and a stranger were there for the noon-time rush. Tifa had absentmindedly tended the bar, while Yuffie was entertaining two of the other guests; a lone drifter joined her at the bar. Tifa eyed him, though she did her best to hide it, but she'd never seen anyone like him before: long auburn hair (tied in a ponytail), and a black cowboy hat perched atop his head.

"_He must have drifted from far away_," thought Tifa, noting his dusty jacket and dirt-ridden purple shirt;

"Hey," he said "You look like you've got a load on your mind, penny for your thoughts?" he asked with an infectious smile.

"Oh it's nothing," she said lightly "What about you? You're obviously not from around here,"

"What makes you say that?" he asked slyly.

"_I've_ never seen you before," she said, equally crafty "so where _do_ you come from?"

"Galbadia" The stranger replied with a playful grin.

"_You crossed the desert from the next continent_?" asked Tifa, half-incredulous and half-impressed,

"Yeah, just went for a little stroll and ended up on in Terra Incognita," replied the stranger as he downed his shot of whiskey,

"So, what's your name stranger?" asked Tifa refilling his glass with a flirtatious grin

"Name's Irvine: Irvine Kinneas." And, for Tifa Lockhart, the world seemed full of possibilities once more.

**Updated to be friendlier with **_**Heart of the Warrior**_**, and to fix pesky, first-time errors; I hope you guys like this version as much as the original, and don't forget to drop me a review, please.**


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